Pokéshipping Universe: Worlds Apart
by Meagan Snow
Summary: Part of my Pokéshipping Universe series. She's a political prisoner, daughter of the president of a war-torn country, born and raised in a setting where the idea of death was painfully real. He's a clueless rich 'rebel' who comes to bail her out of jail. Can he survive in her world?
1. Misty

**Okay, I'm finally putting up my first Pokéshipping Universe fic! **

**Anyway, enjoy ch1!**

_She's a political prisoner, daughter of the president of a war-torn country, born and raised in a setting where the idea of death was painfully real._

_He's a clueless rich 'rebel' who comes to bail her out of jail._

_Can he survive in her world?_

Misty sighed, staring at the blank wall of the prison cell around her. Her home for the past day, night, and now it was day again.

All her life, she had been prepared for this moment. Her dad, president of Pacurbia, had passed away peacefully and it was her time to take over rule over the peaceful and beautiful land of Pacurbia.

Yeah, right.

Her dad had been assassinated during a public speech to the war-torn country and she had been taken and thrown into jail. Now an usurper was ruling.

As if even if she HAD been allowed to take over, it would be anything more than just for show. The real power lay in the hands of the regents who would be 'helping her fulfill her duties.'

That had all happened twenty four hours ago. When she still had a life and dreams of her own.

She knew she was stuck here for good. The army that was formerly her father's now lay in the hands of another.

And while her father had been a good man, Giovanni was certainly not.

This whole situation was so stupid! She didn't even want to rule the darn country. All he wanted to do was to be a dolphin trainer. Like her mother, just a dolphin trainer. Who had the 'luck' to fall in love with the eldest son of the ruling family.

Now she was being held captive for a life she never wanted.

Days passed, then weeks, and months. Misty's anger had passed and turned into sadness, then hopelessness, then she had swung back to anger again.

Why was this all happening to her again?

Oh yeah. Because she was daughter of President Waterflower.

/Isn't that nice though, Misty?/ a voice in her head seemed to say. /Maybe once you die, your the image of your face will start a rebellion!/

\Shut up\

/I'm serious! You'd be much better use to the cause dead than alive!/

\I said shut up. And there is no 'cause'. There's just me, and you who's also me, and a dim, dank prison cell.\

/Please. You really think that your father's murder didn't start a rebellion? And that there aren't people going out of their minds to get you out?/

\Please. \

/And like I was saying. They're being stupid. I mean people need a martyr to fight for.../

\I am NOT a martyr!\

/How can you be so sure?/

It wasn't the fact that she was beginning to talk to herself that scared her.

It was the fact that the voice in her head was a cheerful, masochistic psychopath.

And more often than not, she admitted it was right.

THAT scared her.

It was just another day like all the others. Four walls. Sunrise, morning meal, sunset, evening meal.

She scratched off another day in the corner of her cell. Without counting, she remembered it was day ninety-three.

She leaned back against the wall behind her cot. Day in, day out, the only person she talked to was herself.

And the voice. She called it Flame. That was, until she decided that something else would make a better name.

Sometimes she called it Freedom, some days it was Phoenix or Ash. The voice of freedom, calling her from outside this depressing reality, calling her to be reborn like a Phoenix from the ashes of its forecomer, in a beautiful blaze of flame.

Of course, Flame was also insane.

/But aren't we all, Misty, dear? I'm just an annoyingly cheerful projection of your own darkest thoughts./

\I thought I told you to shut up, Flame.\

/Telling your best friend to shut up is rude. Telling yourself to shut up is the first sign of insanity. What are you then, hmm?/

\You are NOT my best friend.\

/No, sorry, I'm your only friend./

Flame also had a condescending, sarcastic wit.

\Oh you are so not part of me.\

/Where am I from, then, honey?/

\Touché\

Most conversations ended like that.

Misty sighed, staring at the wall again. Even toying with Flame got tiring eventually.

/Wait- can you hear that too?/

Misty cocked an ear to listen to what her subconscious had noticed. Some sort of a clatter and shouting going on in the hallway outside her door.

\Yes. I do. Don't get our hopes up, it's likely just the guards getting drunk or something.\

/What about somebody messing with your lock, Misty dear?/

Misty froze, not daring to move. It was true. Somebody was fumbling with the lock on her door.

**All right, this likely sucked because a) I did it on my iPod and b) this is my very first try at something this dark. If this comes across as dark at all. **

**Anyway, I'd really appreciate a comment or something!**


	2. Ash

**Hey everyone!**

**It's been so long. I'm so sorry. **

**But here it is!**

**(Just to clarify. I do not MercuryShip/AbusiveShip in this story. Ch3 should clear that up. I accidentally changed the plot a bit so I'll be updating the summary now... It's Silver who will bail Misty out but the ship is still Pokéshipping. )**

Fifteen-year-old Ash shouldered his backpack as he headed over to a meeting of 'The Free Men,' a club he and a couple of his pals had organized to educate themselves about the unjustness of living under the new founded tyranny- plus, to have something to do after school Fridays since none of them really had an idea about the subject, living in the richer parts of the city-country like they did.

"Hey, Gary!" he shouted, flagging down his best friend (and rival in pretty much everything) since kindergarten, despite being two years apart.

"Hey Ash, 'sup?" The auburn-haired teen slowed to let Ash catch up. "You coming to the meeting?"

"You got it" Ash nodded, then added: "Drew dropped a hint that Cil's doing something extra today." Cil was Cilan, who was in Gary's year and Drew was his younger cousin in Ash's.

Gary glanced at his watch. "Hey! I gotta run, I'll miss my bus! See yah!" He waved as he ran toward the stop, leaving Ash to walk home.

A few hours later, they were all gathered inside the abandoned plane hangar near the school.

They were, as follows: Ash and Gary, sitting in a pair of old armchairs in the corner, half talking and half Gary helping Ash with math, Paul leaning against the wall, listening to his iPod, Barry shooting hoops in another corner where a net had been bolted to the wall, and Drew sitting on the table set up center flipping through a magazine. Only Cilan was absent. Nobody had seen him, not even Drew- he hadn't been home when the younger got back from school.

"Where is he?" Barry finally shouted, after everyone had been waiting for forty five minutes. "He's like, never late! I mean he gets all over us when we're late! I mean Jesus! If he doesn't get here soon, I am going to fine him!"

Barry, at 13, was the youngest of the group gathered here. His father was a police officer and he was right now going through his "I am going to fine you" stage.

At least he was past his Sonic the Hedgehog stage. Mostly.

"Bro. Chill." Drew said, not looking up from his magazine. "Cil left me a note on the door to my room. Said he'd be a while late and not to leave before he comes. Supposedly it's something important."

"Wonder what it is though" Gary speculated. "I mean he's always been so punctual. Now this is beyond your usual 'I'm gonna be a little late' sitch. I mean, it's gotta be something big to keep Cil this long."

"Yeah" Ash added. "I remember the time I was fifteen minutes late, 'cause I missed my bus, you know? And he was like, 'Either come on time or don't come at all, because being fashionably late isn't going to get you anywhere' and so on. "

"Give the guy a break, people!" Drew said defensively. "He's probably got a great reason not to be here yet."

"He's right." Paul looked up from his iPod the first time that day. "Cilan wouldn't just ditch us. That's Barry's department."

"HEY! I'd never ditch you!" Barry protested.

Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, once... Twice?"

Gary scoffed. "How about every time you don't feel like waiting for all of us, or anything else comes up, or-"

"I GET IT, ALRIGHT! I'm here now, though, right? Waiting for Cilan! That's something, you know!"

At that moment, the doors swung open to reveal Cilan, breathing hard as if he had been running, his hair in a wild disarray and his eyes alight with an excited fire.

Calm, composed, pedantic Cilan.

Without pausing for breath, he started talking in short, broken sentences in between breaths. while he walked into the center of the room. "I'm so sorry I'm late, but you'll never believe... I found an anonymous note this morning, when I was coming over here to set up... It was addressed to 'Cilan Greene, The Free Men' so I took it... I've been doing research and you'll never believe..." He paused for a second and collected the looks he was getting.

"...What?"

"...Nothing." Ash answered for all of them. "It's just that, you know..."

"You're close to an hour late and come in here looking as if you've just met a ghost blabbering about some note and we're not supposed to look at you a bit strange?" Paul stated bluntly what all the others had been trying to find a nicer way to say.

"...Okay, I might seem a little bit strange at the moment, but just listen to me, please. You will never believe what I found. "

"Well don't keep us on the hook! Get on with it!" Barry shouted, leaning forward against the table.

"Well, here's what is says." Cilan reached into his messenger bag and fished out a slip of paper.

"It says 'To: Cilan Greene of the Free Men. I need a place to hide a prisoner of war. I will come to your hangar tonight. Leave the key to the door in back, inside the hollow elm. Don't be there. I can't be seen. For your sakes. Silver.'" He paused dramatically, letting this sink in.

"Who is it then?" Barry practically hollered again. "Who's this Silver person?"

"Either really naïve or just really stupid- to take us seriously." Paul commented, only half listening to their conversation. Despite seeming obnoxious and looking like he was ignoring anything that was going on, Paul was actually likely to be the smartest of the group there gathered.

"Point," Cilan admitted, "But here's the thing. I spent all day researching different people who could have a reason to call themselves Silver, and among others, SILVER could be an acronym for the six boroughs of Pacurbia. You all remember this from kindergarten right?"

"Yeah, 'course we do. Reigning, Simmsborough, Lancaster, Iridia, Esslbury, and Via Bona. So what?" Gary asked.

"So they spell S-I-L-V-E-R if you look at a map and go counterclockwise. Point being?" Paul added. "...I can't be the only one who's noticed this..."

"Actually, you probably are, dude," Drew noticed.

"...Idiots..."

"Whatever." Cilan interrupted. "So that spells Silver. And Reigning, the first borough, was put up around, who knows?"

"Don't leave us hanging, TELL US!" Barry shouted, earning glared from Paul and Cilan.

"All right. Reigning, and so all of Pacurbia, was founded around a silver mine. So whoever this Silver is-"

"He knows a lot about Pacurbia and its early history!" Ash blurted, finally catching on to Cil's point.

"Right. And after looking over the handwriting..." He flipped the slip o paper onto the table as everyone leaned in for a look. "See here? It's written in small caps. He's trying to hide something more than just his name. But here" he pointed to a small detail "See? His A isn't print, it's cursive. This will be important later. And if you look closer, the writing is slightly blurred toward the left. He used a gel pen and is left handed.

The way he signed it, here you can see he's going through a period of depression, since it tilts down. But it's short lasting, at least so far, because it wavers before it goes down. Something personal links him with this prisoner. And it goes way back. See the way he hesitated before writing 'political prisoner'? He wouldn't waver if he didn't care a lot about this person.

And the signature is way smaller than the rest of the note.

Remember the A? You see, the formerly ruling Waterflower family did their 'A's the same way. Also, the new president does his similarly. It's almost a cross between the two styles. At the bottom of it, the line lightens a bit, but doesn't break. If it broke, he'd be a psychopath. This means he's not afraid to fight for what he's after. " He paused for a second, taking a breath.

Everyone looked at him incredulously.

"Cil, that was..." Drew began. "...how long have you been studying penmanship? And how haven't I come to know this yet?"

Cilan stopped. "It's... It doesn't matter." He said, flushing a bit. "I've been interested in it for a while."

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Grats, cuz. Didn't think you'd ever surprise me like that."

Cilan laughed. "There's a lot of stuff I hide from you. Now let's clear out of here. It's already dark."

Gary scoffed. "Puh-lease. Are you actually going to go home and miss finding out this Silver's identity?"

"How about I be more specific then." Cilan admitted. "You clear out, and you, and you." He pointed at Barry, Drew and Ash. "Me and Gary, as oldest, and Paul, because he can be quiet, are staying. "

"HEY!" That was Barry, as first. "I can be quiet!"

"No WAY am I missing out on this!" Ash agreed. "If Gary goes, I go. "

"C'mon, Cil, that leaves me. You wouldn't just leave me hanging brah?"

"...! Fine! But if any of you" he looked at Barry very specifically then "gives us away..."

"I GET it." Barry muttered, crossing his arms and giving Cil a dirty look.

"Right. So get going, and be back here in half an hour. Wear black and bring flashlights and blankets. We might be overnighting. Tell your parents we're having a 'spy event' at the hangar. And don't be late."

"There's the Cilan we know" Paul commented snidely.

**A bit longer than my usual but still short...**

**THANKS TO MY FIRST AND ONLY REVIEWER! I LOVE YOU PETITS SORCIERES!**

**And I hope to get a few more! Please?**

**~offers sad Misty fluff around~**


	3. Misty 2

**Hey everyone!**

**I know I promised this by yesterday, I'm really sorry! But I hope this makes up for it :) **

**I LOVE MY NEW COVER COURTESY OF KITTYKATLOVESBOOKS!**

Misty jumped up, her eyes locked on the figure stepping through the door.

He-because it was obviously he- was short, dressed in black with a ski cap mask over his face. Several locks of dark red hair stuck out from under the mask, and she could see cold grey eyes through the eyeholes.

In an instant, Misty sprang forward and pinned him to the wall, twisting his arm behind him.

"You" she hissed.

"Me" the stranger answered , sounding more sad than anything else. "Didn't expect you to recognize me, Mist."

"Idiot!" Misty shouted, dropping him with a shove. "You think I'd not remember the person who had my father killed?!"

"Misty, please. I'm on your side. We have to go." He took to his feet, looking her straight in the eyes as he slowly took off his mask.

Misty gasped, despite her anger, as she was faced with the face of her adopted brother. He looked horrible, as if he hadn't slept for weeks and his eyes were red from crying.

/He's playing with you/ Flame chided from inside her head. /He'll just betray you again once you turn your back./

Flame was right. He had betrayed her and her family.

"Not with you. I don't need your charity."

"Misty." He repeated, looking her in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know..."

/You know, he sounds honest. If we didn't know who he was, you might actually believe him. / Flame commented snidely but Misty was beyond reason at that point.

"Didn't know what!" she shouted, towering over him. She was, in reality, only a few inches taller than him, but in her anger she posed an imposing figure. "Ever since you had found out that your real father was Giovanni, you gave up on us! You just disappeared! We looked for you. I looked for you, Silver!"

" Misty... Giovanni was my father. My real, birth father. He told me not to go back because you didn't really care. That you kept me because you needed me."

"AND YOU BELIEVED HIM!" If Misty had been shouting before, it was downright quiet against this.

"WE TOOK YOU IN. I TREATED YOU LIKE A BROTHER. MY FATHER TREATED YOU LIKE A SON. SO THIS DUDE APPEARS AND SAYS HE'S YOUR REAL DAD AND NOW YOU SUDDENLY STOP BELIEVING US FOR HIM? AND I THOUGHT YOU HAD A CONSCIENCE!"

/My, hon, you better calm down or you might kill him before we torture him!/

"Misty, you haven't met him. Please, you have to understand. When he talks, it's like he's describing the world to you anew... You have to believe him..." Silver was whispering at that point.

Misty didn't want to hear any of this. Him. Flame. She just wanted it all to stop. She couldn't take this anymore. She had been separated from other people and human emotions too long.

"IT WAS HIM OR US... Your real family." Her voice broke at that moment. "I trusted you. We both trusted you. And you betrayed that trust. "

Misty would never know how it came to be, but at that time she suddenly found herself comforting the now sobbing boy she had been shouting at.

Now, Misty was crying, too, because she realized what Silver had to have gone through these three months. He had had to live with knowing that her dad's death was only his fault. He had had to live with knowing he had ruined Misty's chances at having a semi-normal life.

All this time, she had been going on to Flame about how poor she was. She had never once thought about Silver.

It made spending that time in jail with Flame seem almost bearable.

Almost.

She drew away, remembering where they both were. Inside her prison cell. Surrounded by guards.

"We have to go" she said, grabbing his wrist. "I'm surprised we haven't been caught yet."

"Don't be. Sleeping gas." Silver answered hoarsely, reaching for his mask and handing her one like it.

"Here. You'll need this."

Misty grabbed it and hurriedly pulled it over her face, then finally followed her brother outside her cell.

It all actually looked sort of freaky, with guards slumped the walls in every odd direction, as if dead.

\Sleeping\ she reminded herself. \Sleeping.\

After what seemed like hours they made it outside the facility and beyond the gates.

They walked awhile longer in silence, until the prison was out of sight and they were hidden in a forest nearby.

Misty finally took a breath (she hadn't realized it, but she practically been holding it the entire time) and looked around, pulling the dark mask off of her face.

She was free. Finally.

/As free as a N°1 Highly Recognizable Fugitive From "Justice" can ever be/ Flame commented.

\Killjoy\ she replied.

She met Silver's eyes in the dark and they both broke out laughing. Nothing was funny, really, it was that this whole situation was so ridiculous- or so it seemed to Misty and Silver, neither of which had had a reason to laugh in a long time.

A pair of teens hunkered under some trees in the middle of nowhere trying to avoid an armed force most likely after them by now bent on retrieving them- it seemed just plain silly in retrospect if it hadn't been real.

And it was real.

So it wasn't laughing at something really funny as much as just venting excess emotions.

"Where are we going?" she whispered to Silver, since he obviously knew where they were going, from the decided way he was leading her.

"Somewhere safe. You'll have to stay in a plane hangar for awhile but I'm pretty sure I can work it out for you after awhile."

Misty was again shocked at how much Silver had thought about her while she had believed him to be heartless and cruel.

"I can take care of myself from now on. Thanks for everything."

They walked in silence for a while.

"It's here." Silver suddenly said, stopping and putting his arm out to stop her as well. He slipped through the hedge next to them and motioned for her to follow. He groped around inside the trunk of a hollow tree.

"Got it" he whispers, pulling out a rusty key and handing it to Misty.

"Get inside there with this key, you'll be staying there for some time. There should be some guys around our age next afternoon, they host some sort of a club there, but they can keep secrets- I've checked them out. And Misty." he grabbed her arms and turned her toward him. "Don't tell anyone I helped you. I'm a pretty hated figure right now and they can't connect you to me."

"But Silver, this could be your chance to-"

"Misty... Promise me." He looked her in the eyes pleadingly.

/He's hiding something.../ Flame warned. /He'll bail on you when you agree.../

\Sorry, Flame, but I'm gonna go with my gut on this one.\

/I happen to BE your gut/

\Not this time\

"Fine. But really," She began aloud. "I just think that-" Misty realized that she was talking to thin air; Silver had already disappeared.

/I told you so, Misty dear.../

"Brother" she muttered, inspecting the key in her hand and making for the door.

**Like I said, there's another one coming today!**

**I'm at school so it might be in an hour or two :)**


	4. Ash 2

**NOO I missed Pokéshipping day!**

**I AM SO SORRY!**

**To make up for this in part, I will update again and do a quick little minificlet :) **

**Anyway, here it is!**

After ten minutes everyone had disappeared except for Cilan, because he needed to scope out some good hiding spots, and Gary, who lived in Reigning- an hour's bus drive from Via Bona where the rest lived and where the hangar was located.

"Bet you ten bucks Barry's gonna be late again." Gary commented. He was already wearing a black tee and jeans so he didn't have to change.

Cilan smiled. "No deal. We all know he will."

"Aw, come on, I need some cash for a shake on the way home!" The auburn headed boy whined.

"Please. You don't 'need' milkshakes."

"I'm addicted. It's a medical condition." Gary joked. "If I don't get a shake, I fall asleep at night."

"Sure." Cilan laughed. "Help me move these armchairs closer together and then drape them with this." He produced a tablecloth from his seemingly bottomless bag.

"Okay, even I'm having trouble with believing you always carry THAT around..."

"I don't. I thought it might come it handy today. Now are you helping me or not?"

More or less half an hour later, they were all gathered again, including Barry.

"You owe me ten bucks, G," Ash notices. Cilan raises an eyebrow.

"Don't say you bet Ash too..."

"What about?" Barry inquired.

"Actually..." Drew piped up. "Me too."

"And me." Paul commented.

"How am I left out of this!" Barry shouted but was again ignored.

"Aw, man, I'm gonna go bankrupt!" Gary pleaded. "You can't have taken this seriously right?"

"Cough up" Drew laughed, motioning with his hand. Gary muttered something intelligible and handed each of them ten Pacurbian dollars.

Once everyone got their due, Cilan stood up.

"Alright. Now here's the plan." He looks around. "...Barry, you were supposed to wear black."

Barry, who was wearing a yellow and white sweater over black jeans, shrugged. "I didn't have any black sweaters."

"Does the word DARK tell you anything bro?" Drew deadpanned.

"...I'm wearing black jeans!"

"...Idiot..." Paul muttered, having seen this coming. He handed Barry an extra black sweatshirt he had brought, knowing the blonde haired boy all too well.

"GAH! It's way too big!" Barry shouted, holding up his arms, which are totally covered by the sleeves that were about six inches too long.

"It's Reggie's, what did you think?" Paul muttered, zipping up his own hoodie.

"It'll cover you just fine. Now as I was saying, we all have to hide. I was thinking we go in pairs. Me and Drew hide under the armchairs- which you can see are covered with a tablecloth.

Ash and Gary, you two go in that corner, over there. There's no cover, but it's dark and there's no windows in the area, not to mention that it's dark over there with all the lights on. It's a blind spot.

Paul, I'm sorry but that leaves you paired with Barry." Cilan shot Paul an apologetic look, but the latter only shrugged, indifferent. "You guys, you go back there, where I put up a tarp on the table. Make sure it looks like someone just threw it there, but that you're well covered. Go."

Everyone hid in their respective places and listened. Every sound seemed magnified. The dripping of the leaky faucet in the corner. The wind in the trees. Their own breathing.

After a while, they heard voices outside.

"Don't tell anyone I helped you." a male voice said. "I'm a pretty hated figure right now and they can't connect you to me."

"HEY! They're he-mmf!" Barry began, before getting muffled roughly by Paul.

"Quiet, idiot"

"...Sorry..." Barry whispered.

"But Silver, this could be your chance to-" Another voice spoke outside now. Lighter. Female. But rough from disuse.

Ash met Gary's eyes in anticipation. She had said 'Silver'! That meant that the other voice was their mysterious notewriter!

"Misty... Promise me." It was Silver again.

Misty? The name seemed familiar to Ash, but he couldn't place it.

"Fine. But really, I just think-" they heard, but they never caught the end of her speech.

The lock rattled. Ash met Gary's eyes in excitement again. They would finally get to see who their mysterious notewriter was!

To their surprise, the door opened to reveal a single figure. A girl's figure.

Definitely not Silver.

There had been two voices for sure. So this had to be Misty.

It was dark, but even in the dim light it was visible that she was not just anyone. She was wearing a grey and orange prison jumpsuit and looked thoroughly disheveled, as if she hadn't cared for how she looked for a long time. And she was carrying... A flashlight.

"Darn!" Ash whispered to himself and Gary. They would be the easiest to spot when the light came on.

Misty flicked on her flashlight, shining a beam across the wide hall. The light slowly swept toward Ash and he froze, praying not to be discovered- Gary had had enough good sense to duck in with the Greenes while it was still dark.

"HEY! What are YOU doing here?"

**Who do you think said that last line?**

**All speculations gladly accepted :D**

**But I will surprise you ALL!**


	5. Misty 3

**Hey people!**

**It's mass updating time! Here I have until chapter 7 ready to go :D and also, I'm working on my part of A Simple Misunderstanding :)**

**As my good pal Mario always says, LET-SA GO!**

Misty flicked on the flashlight Silver had handed her before he left and swept the hangar she was about to step into with long, horizontal strokes.

As she was about to shine the light into the last corner, a voice made her jump.

"HEY! What are YOU doing here!" A blonde haired boy, most likely two or three years younger than Misty, had seemingly popped out of nowhere.

"The note said-" he began to continue his thought but he was silenced by a punch to the arm from a sullen-looking purple-haired boy who had appeared much the same way as the first. It now struck Misty that they might have been waiting for her and Silver.

/They can keep secrets, eh, Misty?/

\Be quiet. We're all human.\

/YOU are. I'm a bodiless projection of your excess emotions provided by your brain in order to vent excess negative energy./

\Sensei much?\

"What he means is," another pair of figures emerged from the shadows, one with longish spiked auburn hair who had just spoken and another, shorter and maybe a year younger than her with messy black hair under a dark blue baseball cap who struck Misty as looking almost exactly how she had imagined Flame in her head.

/You imagined me like THAT, dear? No wonder you're convinced I'm insane./

\You ARE insane, Flame.\

/WE are insane. Tsk, tsk, personal pronouns.../

"We were playing a game and one of us left a note and we had to figure out who... In the dark, so it's harder." The black haired boy continued, but he definitely wasn't a good liar, and Misty could see that they had actually been waiting for her.

"I'm Ash, Ash Ketchum." He introduced himself. "This is Gary Oak, the angry one is Paul Shinji, and the one who shouted at you was Barry Jun. Back there are the Greenes, Cilan and Drew. "

Misty's mind raced. Maybe she shouldn't say her real name?

/If it were up to me, I'd introduce ourself as Misty Phoenix or Flame./

\Narcissist.\

/It's my body too!/

\See previous\

/Keep your first name, since they'll refer to you by it- so you won't slip up or not answer. But fake the last name, or else-/

"I'm Misty, Misty-"

"Waterflower!" Ash blurted. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you before! You disappeared three months ago, and nobody knew where you were, assumed missing and dead!"

/Busted/

"Is THAT what they told you?" Misty replied, feeling her anger rise.

/Don't shout at the boy for being ignorant. Kill him at a time more suitable for you, once he stops being useful. Remember we're staying with him and his friends, honey, and I myself enjoy having a roof over your head./

\You're insane. But right. About the first part.\

/Well, revenge is the basis to-/

\OH FOR THE LOVE OF-!\

Misty took a deep breath. As much as she hated to admit it, Flame was right. She attempted to hold back from strangling Ash.

For now.

\Why, why, why did the prison guards have to confiscate my mallet?\

/For the greater evil, Misty darling./

\...I miss it...\

Carefully controlling her tone of voice, she explained her situation, wary of not mentioning Silver.

"Everything you heard was a lie. I was kept in jail until... Until I managed to get free, and come here."

Ash nodded as if he understood. "What about Silver?"

Misty paused, trying to proceed carefully. "Silver, who?"

"Silver, whom you were talking to outside!" The youngest kid, Misty forgot his name, jumped forward again.

Ash mouthed, 'he does that a lot'

Misty was caught between sweatdropping and laughing. She ended up trying to combine them and looking like she was choking on something.

"...Just a friend. He helped me get away..."

/Darling, you are a HORRIBLE liar/

\Thanks a LOT\

/I only know what you don't know you do.../

"...Okay." Ash apparently seemed to accept that explanation. "But why were you in jail in the first place?"

"Because I am who I am."

Misty had said it out loud for the first time and it really sounded powerful.

/See? I told you so, honey.../

"And I don't know who you are, and I know you don't know who I am either, but I know I'm not the only one who's been treated like this.

Because this isn't an accident. I'm lucky to have been freed after three months. Others aren't as lucky. Because this has been going on before me and my father had any idea of what was going on.

And someone has to do something about it.

That someone is me. And if you want to join me, great. But if you think I'm insane and want me to creep off, don't try to stop me." She stopped, looking around.

/My, my, hun, quite the speech/ Flame muttered approvingly.

There was silence for a while, then the taller green haired boy (Cilan, wasn't it?) stepped forward and shook her hand.

"Misty Waterflower, welcome to The Free Men."

**What did you think? Two more coming up!**


	6. Ash 3

**~Meg asleep on couch, arms posed over laptop~**

**~A tall, blue haired girl wearing a short cream dress with teal additions that match her hair walks in and announces~**

**Hi everyone! My name is KittyKatLovesBooks, but you can call me Kitty! I shall be guest starring in this chappy's Author's note!**

**...Gag, that was too formal.**

**~Meg wakes up and jumps, shouting~**

**Meg: AAH! I'M UPDATING! I SWEAR I DIDN'T FALL ASLEEP INNTHE MIDDLE OF MY LONG-AWAITED MASS UPDATE! Oh... Oh, hey Kitty! I didn't know you were visiting!**

**Kitty: Yeah, Drew and the others were boring me so I decided to head to your place.**

**Meg: ~sits back down and motions for Kitty to sit~ Its nice to see I have such a compassionate friend...**

**Kitty: Yep!**

**Meg: Okay, just a heads up, I-**

**Kitty: Let us begin with the chappy! ~dramatically waves hands~**

**Meg: Actually, I think this is imp-**

**Kitty: Shussh! The readers and I are DYING to see what's coming up! ~slowly pulls a package out from behind her back~**

**Meg: Um... okay? Moving on, here's the next chapter- PUT THE POPCORN DOWN KIT****TY!**

**~Kitty sweatdrops and pulls down the screen~**

"Misty Waterflower, welcome to The Free Men." Cilan stepped forward and shook her hand.

Ash blinked in surprise, not sure what had just happened. They were all pretty much collecting their wits, except for Cilan, who had been watching Misty with interest for some time.

His first thought was that she was the driving force to turn their little Friday afternoon get-together into a real force in the fight for the truth.

As the unofficial leader, that had been bothering him for some time, the fact that the guys just treated this like a get-together-talk-and-do-homework situation

For the first time in his life, Cilan had acted without thinking first (at the moment, at least. See previous- he had been thinking about doing this for a long time.)

"Hey!" Barry protested. "We don't want a GIRL in our-" this time, besides being silenced with the customary glare from Paul, he received one from Ash as well. There was something about this Misty that Ash thought was different than other girls. And he didn't want Barry spoiling this.

"That's all cool, I guess..." Misty began, pretending the youngest member of their group hadn't spoken up. "But what did I just get accepted to?"

It was several hours before they had swapped stories. The boys had explained themselves to Misty, and she had told them her side of the story.

It still seemed to Ash that she had been holding something back. Whenever anyone asked about Silver, she would give a vague, incomplete answer and change the subject without meeting their eyes.

"I told you, a friend!" Misty exclaimed, once again avoiding Paul's question about the boy who was outside with her. It was obvious she didn't want to talk about it.

For a minute, it almost looked to Ash like she was arguing with herself.

"So. Do you guys, like, sleep here?" She said suddenly, trying to change the subject. "Because you know it's almost one in the morning."

"Not generally," Ash informed. "Today, though."

"But you can sleep back there, in the ex-mechanic's cabin from the days the airport around here was up and running. " Cilan supplied. "Speaking of which, are you planning to stay here, permanently?"

"I guess?" Misty looked uncomfortable. "I haven't really planned that far ahead yet."

"What!" Ash shouted suddenly "You can't stay here, forever-like! There's no food, beds, or running water! You can stay with one of us!"

**~The screen again lifts to see Meagan grinning sheepishly and Kitty shouting from inside the locked bathroom. **

**Meg: As I was saying, this is only a transition chapter and horrible at that. The next one will be better. ~gets up and frees Kitty from locked bathroom~**

**Kitty: THANK THE GODS! I REALLY need to use your bathroom Meg!**

**Meg: ~sweatdropping~ Anyway, owe more update coming up!**


	7. Misty 4

**~Weary Meagan stands and waves~**

**Hey! Now for the final update of theirs story for today :) Hope you guys can wait until the next one!**

**Don't worry about Kitty, no co-stars were harmed in the making off this last chapter. **

**Severely. **

**ALLONS-Y! ...Allez, allent~begins to decline French verb and stops self~**

**French exam tomorrow! Sorry!**

**Anyway, ALLONS-Y!**

Misty blinked. Had she heard right?

/Go for it, kid/ Flame supplied. /Take advantage of a gift coming your way/

\Are you kidding me? I can't just...\

Misty paused. She wasn't just being nice. It was the fact that she had been in isolation for a long time and she was beginning to feel a little trapped with all those people around. She felt somewhat smothered, as if there wasn't enough air for her in the room with all of those people. She needed to get out of there.

"Hey" she yawned. "I'm really tired, can we talk tomorrow?"

That was a complete lie. She had hardly ever been as pumped up as then. But it was the only thing she could think of.

"...Sure, I guess." Ash replied to her question. "Do you need, like, girl PJs or something? Because we..."

"I'm good." Misty cut him off.

"...Thanks." She added after a second of hesitation.

Misty lay on the floor in the dark. There were old chairs in the corner, and a table in the other, but she doubted she could sleep like that. The floor was good enough for her.

The carpet made it feel almost as soft as the cot she had slept on. Maybe even as soft.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but her mind just kept on whirring in circles.

\I'm free.\

/Sleep. We need the rest./

\I'm finally free.\

/Heard that, hun./

\Why did I run?\

/To help us be free./

\What is my freedom for? I can hardly use it.\

/It's the gift we can use more than anything else in this world, Misty. And you have to pass it on./

\Pass what on? Freedom? How?\

/Knowledge is power. So is gold, but we don't have a lot of that at the moment. So use what we have. And what we can give./

\Gold?\

/No, idiot, knowledge. The power to think for yourself. You're obviously too tired to think. I'm surprised I'M functioning at this hour. Sleep./

\Knowledge. I'm free and I know.\

/Somnas ergo sumus. You sleep therefore we are./

\You sound like...\

/I know. I share your memory./

\It's scary, isn't it?\

/Not really. Cognitas ergo sum. You think, therefore I am./

\No more Latin. I'm too tired.\

/My point exactly. Somnē. Go to sleep./

Misty finally felt how tired she was. Did it take Flame's Latin (she had taken it at one point she didn't remember a thing but apparently her subconscious did) to tell her this?

Without another thought, she turned over and fell asleep.

But her dreams were troubled and unhappy.

_{Misty looked around, taking in the view. She knew this place. She had dreamt about it before._

_She knew she was dreaming yet what she was dreaming was terrifyingly real._

_Misty couldn't explain it another way, not even to herself. It was a dream, but it was real. As real as her dreams, wishes, and goals._

_She had once had those._

_She was standing at the very top of a huge mountain, straining to keep her balance on an unbelievably small piece of rock. The tip of the mountain._

_She couldn't have gotten up there. It was impossible. There were crevasses all around her._

_And yet, there she was._

_She was placed there, it was the only way. She could still feel the force that had placed her there and made it impossible to leave._

_Further away she could see the rest of the world, as it was. It seemed to be comprised of her innermost wishes and desires._

_The aquarium she had been to, when she was just a little girl. The dolphins she had befriended and then had to leave. The place where her mother had spent her life._

_You said you'd come back to us, they seemed to call to her._

_She wanted_ _to cry out, but what came out was simply a thought._

_\I can't. I'm so sorry. Forgive me.\_

_Moving on, her sight met her family. Her entire family. Calling to her. Silver was there, too, for the first time in months._

_Her mom, whom she only had vague memories of. She could see her, plain as day. Tall. Slim. With flaming red hair like Misty, not the same dark brown as her father._

_Oh, God. Where was her father in this picture? Gone?_

_She got the feeling that this mountain had been his jail before hers._

_Suddenly, something happened that hadn't happened before._

_She reached out to the visions, and the ground beneath her gave way._

_She was falling... Wasn't she? She looked up and saw that to her horror, she was chained to the rock, a chain too short for her to do more than reach out to the other side._

_\No!\ she tried to shout again. \No! No! Help me!\_

_The world over there seemed to laugh at her._

_/You can't run from destiny, Misty./ she heard echoing in her head. It sounded like Flame, only joined by a thousand other voices._

_Where was Flame now? She had always been in this dream._

_Standing next to her._

_A creature of living fire, chained to her wrist._

_But she wasn't there. Misty felt so utterly desolate she felt she could die._

_And yet, she couldn't. The chain stopped her from that._

_She managed to get back up to her perilous standing point._

_\Help!\ she thought again. But this time was different. Now she saw a real response._

_She noticed the boys from the hangar. What were they doing there? There had never been anybody new in her dreams._

_A small bridge began to appear between her and them._

_The top was thin as a pane of glass and looked equally fragile._

_But it was a start._

_Suddenly, Misty felt a pain around her waist, where the chain was fastened._

_The metal was slowly heating. Tightening its grip and becoming uncomfortably hot._

_\Hurry,\ she pleaded. \Please. Hurry.\}_

Misty sat bolt upright, panting, covered in a cold sweat. It had all been a dream. A terrifying dream. But a dream.

She noticed sunlight was streaming through a gap in the corroded metal sheeting roof.

/Morning, sunshine./ Flame noticed. /Glad to feel you're awake./

\Why weren't you there?\ Misty asked. She didn't say it herself, per se. It just sort of formed itself in her mind and she couldn't stop it.

/Because you locked me out, hun. You locked me out of our mind./

**I'm kinda hoping that will keep you reading because that keepers me writing :)**

**A JUSTLY HUG AND GOODBYE!**


	8. Ash 4

**Hey, FanFiction! I haven't updated in AGES, but I've got something special!  
A MASS UPDATE, just for you, all my FANTASTIC readers!  
I can't say I love you (in a cool, best friend way) enough times!  
ONWARD!**

Ash woke up with a start.

Something... Something in his dream had woken him, but the details were already slipping away...

Help. Someone had been shouting for help.

He somehow tangled himself out of his sleeping bag and looked around. Everyone else was still asleep.

Cilan and Drew shared a double bag, dark green and with some sort of a ribbon design on it.

(Not ribbon as in, hair bow. Ribbon as in Blue Ribbon.

Paul was sleeping in a plain black sleeping bag over further away from everyone else.

Ash had to bite his lip not to laugh: Barry had scooted up to him in his electric blue Sonic the Hedgehog sleeping bagand was asleep against him. Paul had had to have been asleep by then or otherwise he would have locked Barry in the closet for it.

Ash understood why Paul was constantly annoyed at Barry (weren't they all?) but jeez, he was like his idol. Couldn't he cut him some slack?

He looked around again. Gary was sleeping in a black bag patterned with small red-and-white designs that looked sort of like a Polish flag with a button in the middle.

He vaguely remembered the design from the trading cards Gary used to love, Pocket Creatures or something like that.

He walked over and began to pack his bag, so that he would be ready to go home. He had to go early because his cousin was going to come over and stay and visit and he wanted to enjoy the last Dawn-free moments of his life.

After a while, everybody began to stir.

"Get the HELL off of me, Idiot!" He heard Paul's voice shout, and a loud THUMP.

"Oww! Hey!" Barry looked and sounded hurt but Paul didn't notice.

As a matter of fact he completely ignored him.

Around the same time, Misty emerged. She looked as if she had slept on the floor- she had a rough design imprinted on her cheek and her hair was mussed on one side, even though she combed through it with her fingers.

"...Morning." She said stiffly, as if still not used to being around others yet.

Figures, thought Ash in an extremely rare burst of not-very-Ketchum sarcasm.

After a while, they were all packed (minus Misty) and ready to go. There was one more thing to talk about.

"So..." Ash began, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. "What's the decision?"

Everybody knew what he was talking about- they had discussed it while packing.

"I told you guys, I'm staying here. " Misty insisted obstinately.

"Well," Gary interrupted, "We decided that whoever she goes home with has to have a sister or something."

"Including you, bro." Drew pointed out.

"Me? Heck, no, Daisy is in college all the way in Esselbury. Let's see..."

"There's me!" Barry shouted out eagerly. "Bianca is somewhere around Misty's age!"

Misty sent around a pleading look.

"Don't look at us," Cilan shrugged. "At our house it's just the two of us."

It looked like Misty was stuck with the Juns.

"Hey! Wait a minute! She can stay with me!" He shouted on an impulse.

"You have a sister?" Paul pointed out. "Since when?"

"I don't! But Dawn, my cousin, is going to come over, and..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"We all know your mom." Gary added. "If anyone's to know, it's Delia." He didn't need to add what he meant.

Delia was a wonderful woman... With a not-quite-so-wonderful past. She wouldn't talk about it, but they all had a vague idea of what was going on.

Whenever they'd ask her, she'd flush and answer, "Let's forget the past, life is the present and the future!" and offer some more cocoa.

"It's perfect!" Drew added and even Paul gave a grudging nod of approval. It was set then.

Ash fished a key out of his pocket.

"Stay here!" he whispered to Misty, motioning to the porch.

He let himself inside and called, "Hey, Mom! I'm back!"

"Hey, Ash!" she called, appearing out of the kitchen. She was mixing something in a bowl and had a streak of flour on her face. "Did you have fun?"

"Fun? Yeah... Yeah I did there's something I need to tell you... You see, yesterday, me and the boys..."

He delved off into a short recount of the happenings.

"So, you see, I agreed to-"

He suddenly noticed Delia wasn't paying him any attention anymore.

The bowl dropped out of her hands, shattering with a CRASH!

"...My God..." she whispered, first crossing herself and looking to see if she could still see Misty.

When she determined Misty was no illusion, she ran up to her and hugged her, tears running from her eyes.

"My God..." she kept whispering.

Ash stared at his mother's strange behavior perplexedly before Delia pulled away from Misty and managed, "Do you remember me, Misty?"

Misty looked just as perplexed as Ash felt. "...Should I?"

"No, no you shouldn't," Delia said as if scolding herself. "You were so little..."

Ash looked on politely, having no idea what was happening but for once, Delia was talking about her past and Ash was actually very curious as to where Delia knew Misty from.

He hardly recognized his mother as she was talking, it was like he was seeing an all-new side of her.

Was she still the same person who baked him cakes for his birthday and (still) packed his backpack every day?

"Misty, I knew your mother from when we were very little, we grew up together, she was my best friend.

When she left to get married, we lost touch, and that was all I saw of her for several years.

I saw her once, she turned up at my doorstep pleading for my help, to keep you and hide you from 'him.' You could have been one, maybe two then, you can't remember this.

I thought she meant your father, so I asked her why.

She laughed, saying that if she was hiding you from your father, she wouldn't hide you here. When she asked me what she meant she told me only "He will kill us all!"

I thought she had gone insane, what with her appearance. She was pale, and scared, and was looking over her shoulder every so often.

And then, two weeks later..."

Delia looked down, unable to continue.

"Your father picked you up after that, and you left. For all those years, I was convinced it was a fluke, that she was wrong.

But now, this year..."

Delia trailed off.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alive!"

Ash looked at Misty closely. Her face betrayed no emotion, she was staring straight ahead. But her eyes revealed the internal turmoil that was going on inside her.

They were a dark, stormy blue green and stared straight ahead, but they were defocused and almost hazed over, as if she wasn't there with them, only in a world of her own.

Suddenly, she snapped out of it and nodded. Her voice sounded very rough, as if she was trying and failing to hold it together.

"I remember." she said quietly. "I have to. "

It was like she was trying to convince herself.

Delia laughed, wrapping her in another hug. "It's great to have you home. "

**What do you think? I've been on writer's block here for a while now. I've got one more chapter and then I'm dry...**


	9. Misty 5

**Aaand we continue my mass update! This is the second and last update for this story!  
On that note, I still need ideas. If anyone has a vision, a plan, ANYTHING, please let me know.**

Apparently, Ash's cousin Dawn was already on her way over to stay and the house was still not ready.

Not to mention Misty.

Delia delegated Ash to go clean up his room (which was apparently a disaster area), and told Misty to sit on a stool in the bathroom.

"We're going to try out a few styles on you to see who you like best."

"Wait... Who I like best?" Misty countered but was cut off by Flame who answered at the same time time as Delia.

"Well, you can't stay as yourself, dear. I've already decided you're another second cousin coming to stay, so we're gonna dye your hair black.

"My hair!" Misty protested. "No!"

"Honey, in case you haven't noticed, all the Ketchums have black hair. I'm the... Brown sheep in the family, you might say. Don't worry, it's a temp. It will come out after a few weeks and we'll have to reapply." Delia answered, laying things out on the counter.

"But first... You shower." Delia opened the warm and cold water to a proportion she had gotten perfect after fifteen years with Ash.

Without hesitation, Misty stripped off her clothes and jumped into the shower. The warm water felt so good against her grubby skin.

After letting Misty enjoy it for a second, Delia handed Misty a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, as well as a shower gel.

Misty raised her hand to touch her head. Her hair was practically matted together after three months without a hairbrush.

She lathered and rinsed as well as she could. The water around her feet ran grey foam for a while while she grabbed the scrubbing shower gel she had been handed.

Misty knew she had to hurry, so after forty-five minutes (a bare minimum!) she got out of the tub, a whole new girl.

Without wasting time, Delia handed her a simple black tee and shorts, taking hold of her hair.

She spilled the putrid liquid into the bowl and let it dissolve, instead tackling the tangled mane with a hairbrush.

Misty winced as it got caught in her hair, but didn't say anything as Delia, in some miraculous way, managed to brush it out.

Then, it was time for the rinse. Delia dunked Misty's head backward into the bowl, pouring more of the stuff over the front of her fiery red hair and rubbed it in.

After around fifteen minutes of repeating that last part, Delia wrapped Misty's hair in an old towel and showed her some ideas she had had while Misty was showering.

Misty closed her eyes and allowed Delia to work. Each time, she worked for a bit with her face and then laid out an outfit while Misty blow-dried her hair.

Misty had to go through several to find a good fit.

The first one was a cutesy little ruffled dark grey and baby blue short dress and a black beanie with a navy Pokéball design on it, complete with silver hair pins and tall navy boots.

"Too sweet." Misty protested categorically.

After that one came a goth outfit with her hair hanging loosely around her neck, which had a spiked-collar type accessory.

She had on a black cami with a studded skull and black cargo pants, complete with a black leather jacket and black lipstick.

"A bit much." Delia shook her head, even though Misty secretly thought it was still better than the first one.

After that, they tried a sweater dress and colored scarf, an Oxford shirt and pleated pants, and a wrap top with slacks. None of them really seemed to fit until the very last set. It was a very simple crop top with overall shorts, much like she used to wear.

She pinned her hair up in her favorite side ponytail and washed off all traces of makeup. She longed for her red hair but not much could be done here.

"Misty… Honey, you can't wear that!" Delia protested. "I was going to toss that stuff! It belonged to my sister when she was younger."

"I'm wearing it." Misty declared and that was final.

"…All right." Delia said doubtfully, but she could tell there was no use in arguing with Misty.

"I've made a cover story for you, as well. Your name is Misty Ketchum and you're my mother's cousin's granddaughter, like I said before. You can keep the blue eyes- my entire side of the family is blue-eyed, minus Ash and me.

You can tell Johanna, my sister and Dawn's mom, who you are but don't tell anyone else, even Dawn.

You'll have to go to school, but…"

Misty cut her off. "Thanks, Mrs. K." she smiled.

"Auntie Delia, Misty." Delia chided. "Remember?"

"Yes…Aunt Delia." Misty sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

**Okay, I know this is totally horrible, but bear with me. Please.**

**If ANYONE has ANY ideas, PLEASE let me know! I'll be your slave for the rest of eternity!**


	10. Ash 5

**Hey, everyone. **

**So, I know it's been, like forever… and I really hope you can forgive me someday. But I wrote this just today, (special help from malory79080- thank you, Malory!) and… well, here goes!**

"Okay, Misty. Dawn will be here in a few minutes and I'd like it if you made an effort to get along. She's a nice girl, so don't worry." Delia told Misty. Misty nodded and sat down.

Ash was trying his best to focus on the English essay he was attempting to write.

"Could you please be a bit quieter? I'm trying to work on homework." He asked.

Delia was startled by that sentence.

"Oh my gosh, I forgot!"

"What is it?" Misty asked curiously.

"You need to go to school if you're staying with us for the forseeable future! You'll have to go to Ash's school." Delia babbled.

"I can't go to school!" Ash heard Misty protest. "I'm perfectly smart and I don't need it. First of all, I'd blow my cover for SURE! And besides…" she continued more quietly. "I don't think I'd fit in, at all, here…"

"I'm sorry Misty." Delia apologized. "Ash has some girl friends so you could hang out with them. And it won't be that bad."

"I don't want to."

"Thats just how the cookie crumbles."

Delia shrugged but was interrupted by a knock to the door.

"They're here!" She shouted suddenly, and Ash, at the moment, wished for nothing more than to lock himself in the basement and hide out with the (lack of) mice.

Unfortunately, Delia grabbed his and Misty's arms and pulled her into the living room, where she opened the door.

"Johanna! It's so great to see you again." She gushed. "And this must be Dawn! You've grown so much, you're taller than your mom now, aren't you?" Ash tuned out as he went through the same ritual.

"Hi, Aunt Jo!" He cheered, giving her a hug and greeting Dawn enthusiastically, if not 100% sincerely.

"And who's this fine girl?" Johanna then turned to Misty, who shot her a rather confused smile.

Delia swooped in to save Misty an explanation. "This is Misty. She's… from my husband's side of the family." She mentioned Ash's father rather coolly, he noticed.

Johanna gave rather a cold nod, regarding Misty.

"Well, welcome to the family, Misty. I'm Johanna, and this is my daughter, Dawn."

"Hey, Misty!" Dawn shouted excitedly. Ash suddenly wondered what exactly was this girl's sugar intake.

"I'm Dawn, I guess I'm your cousin too, right?" Ash watched the pair as Misty gave an amused half-smile but sent an SOS message with her eyes as Dawn wouldn't stop talking.

In twenty minutes, Dawn had managed to talk Misty into changing her outfit ("you can NOT be seen like THAT, cuz!") and her hair style ("too elementary school") and into wearing the minidress-and-beanie outfit Delia had gotten her earlier.

"Yes! You look so cute in that, I think grey and blue are YOUR colors."

Misty shook her head as Ash watched, half-enjoying the show and half-trying to focus on his homework.

"My… colors?"

"Yes! They bring out your eyes. Now, what say I see if I can do something with your makeup. What are you wearing?"

"I'm… not."

"What! No way. Good thing I have some with me. Let's see what we can do… I think I have a color that may suit you… you look a lot like me, but your eyes are lighter and your hair is darker…"

Ash thought he would choke with laughter at Misty's expression.

"You're next." Dawn grinned at him.

That quieted him instantly.

**Read? Review? **

**Please? :)**


	11. Misty 6

**Hey, everyone! Do y'all still remember me...?  
It's Meg! And I'm FINALLY back after two weeks of absence with chapters galore! Lots of avdenture in store! And... chore...lore... more... shore... core... I got nothing. Read please :)**

* * *

Misty did her best not to roll her eyes in irritation as Dawn perfected her "look." She looked and felt ridiculous in a skirt so short it didn't reach her knees (which was very short to her) and her chin-length hair pinned back with the silver clips. Not to mention that she had more paint on her face than the Mona Lisa.

/You have to admit, sweetie. We look hot./

\Ew. I look like a lollipop.\

_/Where there is someone waiting for me. Sugar is sweet and so is she. Bye-bye, Blackbird/_ Flame sang suddenly.

\What?\

/Oh, come on. You taught me that. Remember?/

\You know what's more annoying than a running commentary of the world by an imaginary psychopath?\

/Nothing, I imagine./

\A commentary run by a singing imaginary psychopath.\

/Isn't it a refreshing change?/

\Remind me why I put up with you.\

/Because nobody else can, because I'm your only friend, because you have to. Take your pick./

\I don't HAVE to!\

Their argument, which had no external display except for Misty zoning out from real-time, was interrupted by Dawn's squeal:

"Oh my GOD! You look, like, totally gorgeous, cuz!"

Misty reluctantly cast her eyes to the full-length mirror in the room and couldn't hold back a gasp.

Was that her in the reflection?

Indeed, it was. It moved when she did, and mirrored her flabbergasted expression.

/Well…/ Flame commented, and if she'd had a face, Misty could tell she'd have been smirking. /No danger of anybody knowing you now, is there?/

\I don't even know me behind all that cotton candy!\

/And therein lies the point, darling./

"Ash…!" Dawn cheered, calling him into the room (she had chased him out when Misty was changing).

"Well?"

Misty felt her cheeks turn a brilliant scarlet, mirroring Ash's own expression.

"Very-very nice, Misty." He stammered at last.

Misty was completely at a loss for something to say (and Flame was remaining pointedly silent), so the situation might have lasted forever had they not been saved by the bell, quite literally.

_"I wanna be the very best, like no-one ever was…"_ Some sort of a jingle came from Ash's backpack as he rifled through his pockets frantically.

Not sure whether to laugh or deadpan, Misty plucked it from its hiding spot and handed it to him.

"Thanks." He didn't look up, only immediately hit 'redial' and waited for a minute.

"Hey, G!" Misty heard him greet the person on the other side of the line.

Whoever this 'G' was, he or she had impeccable timing.

/We're going to have to send him flowers./

\The zombie wakes?\

/…/

"Yeah, sure! We'll be there. Okay, later."

Ash stuffed the phone into his pocket.

"Hey, Misty. Gary just called, he says that Cil has something important and that we should get back over to the hangar as fast as possible."

"Yeah?" Misty asked, both interested and slightly relieved.

"What's the 'something important'?"

"That's just it! He wouldn't say until we met up in person!"

Misty tugged at her skirt, both excited and annoyed.

"Does that mean I can take this getup off?"

/Good luck with that, hun/

\I wasn't asking YOU\

"No way! You're going like this. I mean, you, like, so can't be seen like you were! The two of us would look ridiculous together!" Dawn interjected.

"Wait a minute. This is an all-boys club!" Ash teased. "Who says you're going?"

"Misty's going, you said so." The brunette crossed her arms obstinately.

"I want to go, too."

Misty rolled her eyes.

"Who says that Ash's 'we' didn't mean him and…" she searched her mind for a name.

"…I don't know. Paul for example."

Dawn opened her mouth to reply but couldn't think of a cutback.

/I wouldn't have done it better myself/

"…Who's Paul?" She asked finally.

"A friend. Never mind." Ash shrugged.

"No! I want to know!"

Dawn leaned into Misty's ear conspiratorially and whispered, rather loudly: "Is he cute?"

Misty clenched and unclenched her fists in an effort not to clout Dawn then and there.

/Ssh. You can kill her later, when there aren't any witnesses/ the voice in her head suggested

"No." She said dangerously, both to Flame and Dawn. "Don't push it, you can't come and that's just it."

"But why?" The girl remained oblivious, pouting at Misty.

"I wanna see the place! And if you don't let me, I'm going to tell our moms that you all aren't playing nice. So THERE."

/Playing nice? What is this? Kindergarten?/

\For once, I agree with you\

/You realize that's like agreeing with yourself, right?/

\You just figured that out?\

/Touché. You're becoming me./

\…That smarts\

But this seemed to work on Ash, who quickly shouted: "No!"

Misty raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of… of course you can come." She heard him choke out.

"…Yay!" The hyperactive teen squealed, hugging him spontaneously. "That's, like, totally awesome! Okay, so, let's go!"

Misty found herself dragged downstairs by an excited "cousin."

She rolled her eyes and held out a hand to keep Ash, who had just tripped, from falling and breaking a leg (or two).

"Mom! Mom! Cousins Ash and Misty and I are going outside, okay?"

"What?" Delia reacted. Johanna didn't even turn around.

"If Aunt Delia agrees." She said simply.

Delia gave Misty a critical look.

Misty returned the gaze and inclined her head toward Dawn, making a face.

Delia bit her lip, trying not to smile.

"Where are you three going, then?"

"To Gary's." Ash fibbed. "He called and said his grandpa agreed for us to come over."

\Why doesn't he tell her what's going on?\

/Misty, honey, do you think that Delia thinks Dawn any more responsible than you do? God himself knows what she'll do to herself in an old airplane hangar./

\If she kills herself, that'll be our fault!\

/Your fault. This doesn't concern me, does it now? Sure, blame the immaterial person, that's the easiest…/

"Alright… are the Professor or Daisy going to be at home with you all?"

"…I didn't ask… Mom, I'm _fifteen_ and Gary is _seventeen_. We can take care of ourselves!"

"I'm sixteen, and I can watch over all three of them if need be." Misty added.

/Remind me why we're so charitable and don't just lock her in the basement, again?/

\It's called being grateful\

"Well… Alright, honey, if that's the way it is… have fun at Gary's. And remember that Dawn is _fourteen_."

"I'm almost fifteen, Aunt K." Dawn pouted again. Misty was beginning to think that she was more than a little bipolar.

"Of course! I'm sorry. That's not the same thing at all. Do you want me to call ahead and ask the Professor if it's okay that the girls are coming along?"

Dawn didn't seem to catch the sarcasm in that sentence.

Ash shrugged. "Nah, that's fine. Gary knows they're coming."

"Alright, have fun. Wear a coat, or at least a vest! You too, Dawn and Misty!"

Ash grabbed a blue vest from a hanger by the door and Dawn pulled a sleeveless sweater over her outfit.

"Here, I brought another one, so we can, like, look the same today!"

"…Thanks." Misty shrugged, taking it and pulling it over her neck reluctantly.

\Oh, so not my style.\

/Is now, innit? Come on, you don't look like you at ALL./

\What's got you this cheerful, all of a sudden?\

/Nothing! It's just that unlike you, I haven't known life before jail and o haven't been doing a lot of parading down the streets in broad daylight, even dressed like a clown!/

\Oh, hush. We're not going anywhere big.\

Misty tried her best not to let Flame see the excitement growing inside her chest like a balloon about to burst.

Once they were out in the street, Misty and Dawn followed Ash as he took them to the hangar.

Dawn kept talking about how great Misty looked, oh, look, that guy on that bench is kinda cute, let's go talk to him, what, why are you giving me that look, no, I want to stay, ooh, look at that, they're, like, having a sale at Joy's, we should, like, totally go and check it out…

It almost made Misty long for Flame to say something sarcastic and insulting- but, oddly enough, intelligent as well. All she got was a brief: /Kill her./

\Not up to her usual standards, is she, today?\

/I heard that, darling!/

\What. I called you witty. What's wrong with that, now?\

/How that thought began…/

\Oh, what, YOU insult me- all the time!\

/For your own good! I'm you, I have to want what's best for you! And as long as I'm part of you I have to make sure that you don't get us killed!/

\You're beginning to scare me.\

/I know./

Misty sighed, slightly annoyed. She was by now very used to Flame's condescending attitude and had learned to ignore it. That same strategy seemed to work for Dawn, because she didn't even notice Misty was ignoring her.

…It was a long walk, but Misty tried to make the best of it by remembering the route for later reference. Having never been to the district Via Bona, it didn't do her much good, but she would be able to approximately find her way back if the need arose.

\Flame, I'm counting on you here.\

/This is new, isn't it?/

\If you're going to be an insane voice of reason in my head, at least be a useful one at that.\

/You know, out of context, that might sound slightly weird… Good thing I won't be telling anyone./

"Now's the tricky part…" Ash whispered. They were in a more run-down region on the border of Via Bona and Lancaster, the poorer district.

"Nobody from around here actually knows we're in this hangar, so we have to be sort of quiet…"

The boy led them around back and unlocked the rusty back gate, entering through the back door.

"Once we're in here, it's pretty soundproof, so we're good."

The hangar was empty except for Gary and Paul, who were seated on the armchairs in the corner of the room. Each was doing something, seemingly in worlds of their own. Gary was studying something (he had his SATs coming up fast), and Paul was absorbed in typing a rapid-fire series of taps on a plain, black netbook.

"Hey, Ash. Sup." The auburn-haired teen greeted them, clasping his hand in a high-five briefly.

"And who are these fine ladies?"

"These are Dawn and Misty… my cousins." He said pointedly.

"You know Misty, right?"

"Of course. But this one I don't know. Pleased to meet you, Gary Oak." He sent Dawn a wink and flashed a smile, which made her giggle.

/He is SUCH a flirt/

\Puh-lease. You're telling me?\

/Kinda cute, though…/

\Ew, really?! You sound like Dawn\

/…Not really our type, is he now?/

\Shut up!\

"G'wan, quit it." Ash teased. "She's too young for you."

"Am not." Dawn crossed her arms, pouting (which didn't, in Misty's humble opinion, make her any seem older than before)

"Won't be in a couple of years, will you?" He raised his eyebrows in a clear message to Dawn: "I'll be waiting"

"Hmmph." The raven shot Ash an angry look.

"Yeah, anyway…" Ash tried to change the subject. "What'cha doing?"

"Calculus." Gary raised his textbook. "I've got, like, a billion examples to do for homework."

"Ew." Ash made a face.

Misty shrugged. "It's not that bad- when you get the idea, they go pretty quickly from there on."

"You get Calc?" Gary raised an eyebrow.

"I…uh…a little bit."

\I can't tell them that I had private tutors, can I? That would be like bragging.\

/I say, go for it! Better to overshoot than ignore your assets./

\But, I don't know… I don't think…\

Even Paul had looked up and was giving her a discerning glance.

"For real, though?" Gary didn't seem to believe his ears.

"Maybe you can help me with this, I've been trying to figure it out for ages!"

"Yeah, I guess." Misty shrugged, looking through his calculations.

"…You can't divide by _x_." She said finally. "_X_ is a variable, you don't know what it is."

"So…? I know it's a variable, so what."

"It could equal zero." Misty and Paul chorused.

"…!" Gary didn't say anything, only sat down and began to solve.

"…Wow. That's true, now _f(x_) actually comes out as a parabola… Thanks."

"Sure." Misty shrugged. "Anytime."

Delia's words echoed in her mind.

"You'll have to go to Ash's school."

"I can't go to school! I'm perfectly smart and I don't need it." She had protested. It was true. Had she continued her education instead of being treated like a criminal she could go to college at age seventeen.

"First of all, I'd blow my cover for SURE!" This was also true- it was physically impossible for her to play dumb. And normal 16-year-olds just don't understand Calculus and Trigonometry.

"And besides… I don't think I'd fit in, at all, here…"

Misty hadn't ever gone to a school like a normal kid or teen. She had been tutored in the goal of having her finish a Bachelor's and begin her political career at twenty.

She really hadn't had a lot of interaction with people her age, minus Flame.

/For the last time, I am not a 'kid your age,' I am the result of a minor schizophrenic disorder who has the aspirations of evolving into a full multiple personality disorder./

\Even I didn't understand that.\

/I'm your imaginary friend./

"Yeah… whatever." Dawn commented, attempting to look over Gary's shoulder but giving up when she saw _'f(x) =a(x-h)^2 +k'_

"What're you doing, then?" She continued, this time to Paul, having taken a seat next to him and swinging her legs.

"…" Misty saw that he was reluctant to answer. Finally, he shifted and answered:

"I'm writing an extended algorithm for Delphi which includes a webpage, specifically a VCL Forms Application, which doubles as a specialized editor of images saved as Portable Network Graphics or Bitmaps…"

He, of course, could have explained that much more simply, but Misty somehow got the feeling that that was his way of telling Dawn to bug off.

The girl, however, didn't seem to understand a hint, because she continued: "Okay then. What's your name? You never introduced yourself. I'm Dawn."

"…Paul. Do you mind? Sort of busy."

Misty had to hand it to the girl, she was persistent.

"Sure." After about ten seconds of silence, she began again:

"Who else is coming to the meeting today, d'you know?"

Misty noticed that Paul had stopped typing and had clenched his fists.

"Cilan and Drew Greene should be here any minute now."

He returned to typing, placing a pair of black headphones in his ears in an effort to throw Dawn off.

"…That's five. Ash said that this place had six members. Who's the sixth?"

The purple-haired teen slammed the computer shut in resigned aggravation.

"Barry! He's closer to your age, maybe you two can find a common language when he gets here, the front page of ADHD Weekly or something!"

/Ooh, burn/

"You're not very polite." Dawn said, miffed.

"Glad you noticed!" Paul had reopened his laptop and was continuing to type, ignoring any further comments pointedly.

/You can cut the tension with a knife!/ Flame singsonged.

\You're not very polite.\

/Glad you noticed./

At that moment, the doors slammed open to reveal a panting Barry.

"I'm… I'm not late… right?"

He had looked as if he'd ran the entire way, very red in the face and breathing hard.

"No. We're still waiting on CD." Gary answered.

"CD…?" Ash questioned from the side.

"The Greenes. Cil and Drew, CD. Just don't tell them we call them that."

/File and save: blackmail content./

\…You really are insane.\

/So are you/

"…Good."

Misty hadn't known Barry very long, but she had heard enough to realize that seeing him busheled out like that wasn't a common sight.

He slid his messenger bag off and collapsed on the old couch to regain his breath.

"…Got your sweatshirt from last night!" He offered Paul, handing him the bunched-up fabric.

The latter grabbed it and stuffed it in his backpack without a second glance, then returned to whatever it was that he was actually doing at the moment.

"Barry." Ash interrupted the lack of an exchange.

"This is my cousin Dawn, and you remember Misty, right?"

He looked at the two of them, uncomprehending, until his jaw almost dropped to the floor.

"That's that same Misty who was here last night?"

"Yeah, I guess I clean up nicely after all." She joked, all the while praying that he wouldn't say anything about her hairdo.

"Hey! Wasn't your hair…"

\Crap.\ Misty held her breath, waiting for it.

"…Shorter?"

It took all she and Flame had not to burst out laughing then and there.

"Yes… Sort of." she finally managed, keeping a straight face.

"It seemed shorter because I was wearing it differently."

"…That's it. But where are Drew and Cil, anyway?"

"Late again." Gary commented, focusing on his notebook.

"Although we didn't have a set meeting time, so I don't think they technically are."

"What? That's the second time in two days!"

Barry seemed to be regaining steam by how he jumped up and waved his arms around.

"That's sort of like every day! I'm going to fine all of them, I'm telling you!"

/If he and Dawn hooked up, their kid would probably end up being Sonic the Hedgehog./ Flame mused, but Misty ignored her.

Her?

\What gender are you, anyway?\

/I never thought about that. I don't know if multiple personality complexes have genders, but I think I'd be female, because I'm you./

\This is so messed up.\

_/I am he as you are he and we are all together_!/ Flame sang again.

\Where do you even learn these songs?\

/That's not hard to answer. The question is, where do you?/

As Misty paused to consider that one, she was interrupted by the sound of pounding footsteps for the second time that day.

An uncharacteristically disheveled Drew appeared in the door.

"Guys…people…come quick. Cil…tripped…think…broke his arm." He choked out between gasps for air.

/Well, ain't that right pretty?/

* * *

**One more chapter coming at y'all! Guess who?**

****EDIT: fixed a double post! Sorry 'bout that!**


	12. Silver 1

**And here it is! Bet'cha weren't expecting ****this****!  
By the way, I'd just like to give a HUGE shout-out to all my awesome reviewers, and most of all several people... namely, one very special person (you know who you are! I'm not going to throw names around because I haven't asked your permission) has given me the ideas and motivation to continue this story. THANK YOU! YOU ARE AWESOME!**

* * *

"And where were you last night, Kamon?" Giovanni's accusing tone reached his ears.

_/My name is Silver. S-I-L-V-E-R. Why can't you understand that?/  
_Silver Giovanni had learned to keep a blank expression whatever happened. It was the only way he could go through life without ending it abruptly. But in his imagination, he saw himself with enough courage to say what he thought, no matter what the consequences. Even if it made him hate his real self even more.  
"…I was out." He said neutrally, almost but not quite apologetically.

"And does it seem familiar to you that the eldest and only child of the formerly ruling Waterflower family had escaped that same night?"

_/Yes! Yes, very much so. How DARE you imprison Misty like that, you son of a…/  
_"Really?" On the surface, he sounded almost disinterested."I haven't heard of it."

"Liar!" Silver recoiled from a slap full to the face, placing a hand against his cheek.  
Tears threatened to form in his eyes, but he pushed them away. Now was not the time. He could cry later, when he was alone. He did quite a bit of that. But he never let his father see his weakness.

"You helped it, didn't you!"

_/My SISTER is not an IT!/  
_"I didn't do anything!" He replied quietly, holding a hand to his burning face.

"That's a LIE. Do you remember what I told you?" His voice suddenly shifted, becoming silkily smooth.  
"The Waterflowers kept you around because they needed a younger heir, someone 'just in case' something happened to the one they had. Someone to compare to the oldest child, someone to make it feel better about itself."

/_That's not TRUE! They loved me, much more than you ever will!/  
_"Y-yes, Father, but…"

"Look at what you have with me. You are my only heir, destined to be President Giovanni after me. Kamon Giovanni, president of Pacurbia. Isn't that everything you ever dreamed of?"

Silver found himself drinking up the words against his will. He knew that it was wrong, yet some weaker part of him listened attentively to every syllable. Giovanni had a way of taking his deepest, darkest greed and showing it to himself on a platter.

_/No. No! NO! I HATE YOU!/  
_"Everything… I dreamed of?" He repeated, mentally trying to shake himself from his trance.  
_/That's not TRUE! That's not what I want at all! You don't even know me! My name is Silver Waterflower, youngest and only son of the Waterflower family…/_

"You won't be overshadowed by a favorite heiress. It's just you, and me. Why, then, do you keep insisting that THIS IS NOT SO?!"  
Giovanni's voice had risen to a shout again, and his hand was raised to slap his son again.

"I don't insist anything…" He said, trying to remain calm despite the panic rising in his chest.

_"I don't insist anything."_ Giovanni mimicked.  
Silver flinched against his will as the blow came. He felt the metallic taste of blood inside his mouth.  
"Then why did you help it escape!"

_/Because I love her! She is my sister, and you have no right to imprison her like you did!/  
_"I didn't!" He pleaded. He didn't despise anything more than himself at the moment, but he had collapsed onto the floor when Giovanni punched him in the stomach.  
"I didn't do anything! I didn't… I didn't…"

"WHERE IS SHE!" He screamed, aiming a kick at the cowering Silver. "WHERE DID YOU HIDE HER!"

Tears blurred Silver's eyes and blood roared in his ears. He could no longer distinguish anything that was happening. All he could do was shake his head and mouth "no," too out of breath to voice the word.  
"No. No. No."  
_/I WILL NEVER TELL YOU!/  
_"No. No… please, no."

"No? Then listen to me and listen to me well, because I'm only saying this once. If you truly are innocent, then let this be a warning to you of what will happen if you fail. You are to get the Waterflower heir and bring it to me to do with as I please. It's you or it, Kamon. Choose wisely."

With that, the usurping president strode out of the room with a decided step, leaving Silver to pick himself up and together.

"_No… please." _He had begged. Pleaded. Shown weakness. He was weak and worthless, and couldn't hide it any longer.

He wiped away the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth roughly, not caring that he got it all over his ever-so-expensive clothes.

Arms, legs. Nothing broken. He pushed himself up slowly, then froze with an involuntary cry.  
He definitely had a cracked rib. Perhaps more than one.

He lay back on the ornate carpet, gasping for breath.  
/_Get up. Get up, get up!/_ The stronger part of him shouted.

_\No, no I can't. I can't. Don't make me. I can't go on.\_ The child Silver pleaded inside his head.

_/Get up and do something, you worthless…/_

_\What can I do? I'm out of options. I can't do anything. Let me run and hide.\_

_/You will NOT! This entire situation was your decision, and you have to reap what you sowed./_

_\I can't, I can't do anything. There's no way out.\_

_/Then FIND ONE!/_ He practically barked at himself.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly came back up into a sitting position, despite the jarring pain which made him want to curl back up into the fetal position.

Misty. He had to warn Misty somehow. But _how_?  
"Warn Misty." He murmured like a mantra. "Warn Misty. Warn Misty. _Warn Misty_."

"You are to get the Waterflower heir and bring her to me to do with as I please."  
Giovanni's words echoed in his head.  
"It's you or it, Kamon. Choose wisely."

_/Remember who's the usurper here. You owe Misty. You owe her a life. Her father's life./_ One part of him shouted.

But the other, the selfish and weak-hearted part of him replied:  
_\If Misty gets to power, I will be legally executed for treason. I don't want to die.\  
/You made that choice when you used the Waterflower family's trust to make sure that the president would be assassinated./_

Silver sucked in a jarring breath, feeling the ground give way beneath his feet as the floor rose up to meet him when he tried to stand up.  
\_I need help, I can't do this! I need someone to help me.\  
/You are beyond help. Get up. Don't pity yourself, you don't deserve it. I said get up!/_

Silver wasn't really sure what he was thinking anymore. He felt sort of woozy, and placed a hand against his head.  
His unnaturally red hair.  
His hair had always been red. But his hand didn't always come away red, did it?  
…Did it?  
Hah. That was funny. What did someone like Ketchum do, he wondered, if his hair dyed his arm black?  
His head swam as the hard part of him screamed for him to put himself together.

"Need help. Help Misty. Help me. Me or her?" He said aloud, wincing at the pain it caused him.  
"Can you help us both?"

He was talking to someone now, obviously.  
He wasn't delirious. There was someone there. Of course there was. It was just that the person kept changing shape.  
At one moment, a creature of flame danced in front of his eyes. A living ember.  
"Hello. Can you help us?" He slurred, looking up at the thing.  
"I think we're lost..."

Then, it touched his forehead and he blacked out in a whirl of color.  
Was it possible to black out in a whirl of color? It was so vivid, and then it was black. Why was it black?

Before he faded, he could hear a group of hushed whispers.

_"Is it him?" A deep voice. Rough like sandpaper. _

_"It's him all right." Higher. Also male. Faintly British…? Worried? No, scared. Or anxious?_  
_What a funny word. Anxious. Anks-shuss._

_"What's happened?" Female. Commanding. Superior. Cross._

_"Suppose he's gone and got himself in a fight, inn'e? Little traitor." The first voice practically spat._

_"Don't just talk, get to work, you two. Cass's not going to stay on guard for long, you know she doesn't take orders well."_

Someone grabbed Silver by the shoulders and he fell unconscious.

* * *

**The first person to correctly identify ****all four ****people at the end gets to choose two canon characters and one ship that appears in the next chapters!**


	13. Misty 7

**Hey y'all! Here's the next chapter to this.**

**Y****es, I am villainous and shall NOT tell you what happened to Silver! #cackle  
****Soon… very soon… #evil witch**

* * *

"What?" Gary was the first to react. Even though Misty had only known him a day, she hadn't seen him that serious as long as she'd known him and didn't expect to have.

"Bikes… we were on bikes…" Drew was still breathing hard.  
"He almost ran over a girl… Braked and fell. And his arm is bent all weirdly."

"Come on. Take us to him." Gary nodded solemnly, motioning for the others to follow. "Where are we going?"

"Corner of Independence Parkway and Covert Road."

"All right. Let's go." Drew and Gary walked out of the hangar, closely trailed by Ash, Barry, and Dawn.

/Beg pardon, but shouldn't they at least take a first-aid kit?/ Flame noticed.  
\Had the same thought.\

Misty reached for the case on the wall at the same time as Paul.  
"You, too?" He asked. Misty started a bit, surprised he was talking to her instead of sulking.

"Yeah. Please, they could have at least thought about a first-aid kit."

"They're all airheads." He remarked flatly, but not without a little joke in his voice.  
/So… him and Dawn, hmm?/  
\Shut UP. No WAY…\  
/You like him?/  
\No.\ Misty was very categorical. \It's just that he hates Dawn probably as much as Barry.\  
/What about that Ash kid? Kinda cute, isn't he?/  
\NO!\  
/Gotcha!/ Flame sing-songed.  
\…Flame?\  
/Yes, dear?/\Shut up.\  
/Misty and Ketchum, sitting in a tree…/

By that time, Paul had grabbed the suitcase and run ahead. Misty took his lead and took off after them.

It was a long run, and Misty was surprised by in how good shape she was, all things considered. Her sneakers pounded the pavement rhythmically, and she caught up to the others easily. She passed Dawn, who had fallen behind, and matched Ash's stride. She would have overtaken him easily, had it not been for the outfit that Dawn had forced her into. The skirt threatened to flap out around her hips with every step she took.  
_/Every step that you take, every move that you make…/  
_\Need I ask where you know that from?\  
/I don't ask where you learned your songs, honey, how should I know?/

Drew had reached the site first and was waiting for them. There was indeed Cilan, and next to him a pretty girl with a Middle-Eastern look to her face, as well as the longest hair Misty had ever seen, so black it seemed purple.

Cil was sitting under a tree, and the unknown girl was holding one of his arms carefully, keeping up a steady banter that was probably meant to distract him. Even from a distance, Misty could see that it didn't look good. As she neared the spot, she could see that it was swollen and turning purple.

With a sudden jerk, the girl, who had before remained immobile, gave the arm a twist. Cilan gave a strangled shout, but then looked at her, surprised.

"It was dislocated." She explained nonchalantly, seemingly unaware of the small crowd that had gathered around them.  
"There. Doesn't hurt as much now, does it?"  
She then reached toward the wrap cover-skirt she was wearing over a sort of one-piece gymnastics suit with sleeves and pants, and tore it off unceremoniously to make an improvised sling.  
"You'll be fine now, until the ambulance comes."

She finally seemed to notice the others, if only to say: "You, with the red hair."  
Misty almost reacted instinctively, but stopped herself just in time as she realized the girl was talking to Gary.

"Call 911, would you? Yes, I know you have a cell phone, or else you wouldn't have headphones."  
Despite being a good several inches shorter than Misty, and almost a foot below Gary, her tone was authoritative enough that he immediately pulled out the device.  
"I'm Iris." She finally introduced herself, sticking her hand out to Misty.

"…Misty." She shook it, before gesturing to the others.  
"Ash, Paul, Gary, Drew, Dawn… Dawn? Where's Dawn?"

"'S that her?" Iris asked, suddenly pausing to listen, one hand poised over her ear. Misty herself didn't hear anything until a while later.

Shouts of _"no! Give it here!"_ and _"I saw it FIRST!_" floated to her ears.  
Iris quickly reacted. "You, baseball cap, Sonic the Hedgehog, and paige cut, go check it out." Paul brushed off being called 'paige cut' with just a small '_hmph_' and a crossing of his arms. Gary just gave her an odd look when he realized she was referring to him as Sonic.  
/Who put HER in charge? Go take charge, gurl! It's your time to shine!/  
\In case you haven't noticed, this Iris knows how to set an arm and what to do in a crisis.\  
/She could be useful./  
\Shut up.\

"Misty and you, brother-person, you two stay here."

"Cousin." Drew corrected automatically.

"Yeah? Okay. I'm Iris, and you're… Dahri, right?"

"Drew." He corrected with a shrug.

"Sorry. Drew, that's an uncommon name, isn't it? I've never met another Drew."  
When Misty listened to her speech, she could barely make out a hint of an accent to her tone, just enough to give it a pleasing melodic lilt.

"Because Dahri isn't?" Drew countered, and a flush of, in Misty's opinion, irrational embarrassment quickly flashed over Iris' face.

"Yeah… of course it is. I guess I just haven't met a Drew either." She finished with a sort of apologetic smile.

"Sure." Drew shrugged. "Cil, are you okay, brah?"

"…I'll be fine." Misty noticed that he shot Iris a look at that, which Flame didn't fail to notice and comment on.  
/Looks like we have another little couple on our hands./  
\Don't be ridiculous. None of us even knows Iris. She could be his sister for all we know.\  
/Ooh, not with the look he was giving her, sweetie./  
\I never knew I had a romantic side.\  
/I'll add that to the things you call me. Condescending, insane, somewhat masochistic, insane, narcissistic, _insane_, witty, insane, and now romantic./  
\Good for you\  
/Did I mention insane…?/

"Your arm was only badly sprained and dislocated, not fractured, but it would still be best if you went to the emergency room." Iris remarked.  
"But that's the second time I've heard him call you your brother."

"What… brah? I call everyone _brah_." Drew shrugged. "Trust me, I am most certainly not one of his brothers."

"Yeah? Do tell." Iris smiled. "It isn't like we have anything else to do."

"It's not much of a story." Cilan shrugged, but there was a sad look in his eyes. "I'm a triplet, actually- Cress and Chili Greene were… are my older twin brothers. Drew has one older brother, his name is Harmonia but he goes by N.  
…I know, weird names are sort of a family tradition."

"_Harmonia_ isn't a weird name." Iris protested. "My mother's name was Harmonia."

"…Whatever." Drew took over. "It's not a fun story. Cil and I got sent to a camp of some sort. I don't even remember what it was all about."

"I do." Cilan laughed faintly. "It was a boot camp, remember? Our families were convinced that we spent too much time, quote-on-quote,_ 'being artsy.'_"

"…Yeah. Anyway," Drew sighed.  
"I really don't remember what happened. That was five or six years ago. I was ten, and Cilan was twelve. Both our families were sort of rich, so we could afford all kinds of things, but we never really kept in touch with extended family. Because of that, Cil and I hadn't known each other before that camp. It was the worst summer of my life." Drew forced a laugh here.  
"But I made a best friend."

Cilan nodded. "I remember that my ever-more-athletic brothers were supposed to pick us up or something when camp ended. But they were my age, and so N had to drive them. He was maybe eighteen then?"

"Seventeen." Drew corrected. "We were seven years apart."

"…And they took the train from Iridia." Iridia was _THE_ richest borough of them all, even more exclusive than Via Bona. If someone lived in Iridia, he had to either inherit a house and fortune, be CEO of some government-funded company, or make money on the black market.

"But there was some sort of an accident. To this day, I have no idea what happened to them afterwards. But there was some sort of explosion, and Drew and I were left with no place to go. Our families probably thought we were on the train, or didn't care enough to look for us, because nobody came. Waste of money, I assume." Cilan said the last part with a bitter tinge to his voice.

Iris looked at him silently, then simply placed a hand on his good shoulder without a word.

"We were sent to an orphanage for an indefinite amount of time. Some poor aunt from Lancaster finally appeared to take us in for a bit when I was starting high school. The 'a bit' ended up being 'until today.' I guess we should be thankful."

Iris nodded, still silent.

When Misty listened to their story, she began to realize that life in Via Bona wasn't as perfect as she'd imagined it.  
\Being rich never ends well, does it?\  
/You just now noticed? The rich and the powerful. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. _Aurum potestas est._ Gold is power./ For the first time in a long time, Misty found herself actually listening to Flame's voice of relative reason.

/The insane are usually the most intelligent, you know./  
\You must be a genius.\

Now, you have to know that most of Misty's and Flame's conversations didn't happen in real-time. They passed in a rapid-fire flash of thoughts that she only deciphered after she thought them. It was all very action-reaction, really.

"How 'bout you, Iris?" Drew asked. "We told you our stories, why don't you tell us yours?"

Iris shrugged, and her face turned a brilliant scarlet as she refused to meet Cilan's eyes.  
"You don't know me, that's for sure. You could say I'm a gift of the dragons. My name is Iris. Iris means 'gift,' and my last name-"  
She was obviously talking about her name to distract the general attention from who she actually was. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that the sirens which had been wailing in the difference finally turned out to be the requested ambulance. Iris stopped talking with obvious relief, and instead gently helped Cilan stand up.

Misty didn't see any further as she and Drew were swept up in the commotion and bid come along with. It took a long time for her to realize that Iris had taken advantage of the distraction and disappeared.  
/Slippery little thing. She could DEFINITELY be useful to us./

Misty didn't pay Flame much attention. She was too busy joining in explaining what exactly had happened to the men in white.  
"I wasn't there, I didn't see it happen… I'm Misty… Ketchum, Misty Ketchum…"

It finally struck her: she was going to have to go to the hospital with Drew and Cilan. Where there was about a thousand officials who could recognize her.  
And she would have to officially and consistently be Misty Ketchum from Via Bona.

/Good luck, darling. You're gonna need it./

* * *

**Short and not too good, I know. But please review so I can write some more!**

**#Offers cookies and sad Silver fluff**


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